Last Updated: 02/12/2024
Develop novel malaria vaccines against Plasmodium vivax
Objectives
To eradicate malaria, it is crucial to counter P. vivax, more widespread than P. falciparum. This project seeks to develop novel vaccines that target P. vivax by blocking its invasion of human red cells and reduce disease burden. Specifically, the project seeks to generate crucial novel data on the biochemical and functional characterization of the P. vivax reticulocyte binding protein (PvRBP) antigens – potent targets for a P. vivax vaccine.
International Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), India
P. vivax invades a small subset of young, immature red cells known as reticulocytes, which constitute up to 1% of human blood. A central dogma of P. vivax invasion is that it is completely dependent on the interaction between the duffy receptor on reticulocytes with its parasite ligand, the duffy binding protein (DBP).
However, P. vivax appears to have evolved alternate invasion pathways, as a number of studies have reported P. vivax infections among duffy-negative individuals.
In light of these reports, it is crucial to validate novel vaccine target antigens of P. vivax (other than DBP), to counter the parasites that no longer exhibit the total dependence of the duffy interaction for invasion.
Sep 2012 — Jul 2014
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